True Wealth: How and Why Millions of Americans Are Creating a Time-Rich,Ecologically Light,Small-Scale, High-Satisfaction Economy

That works out to 59.8 metric tons, or 132,000 pounds of oil, sand, grain, iron ore, coal, and wood for every person, to produce the United States’ GNP. Divide that by 365 and it yields an eye-popping 362 pounds a day. It’s not a sustainable number.

There is a way forward, and I call it plenitude.

In the 1990s, he was active in promoting living wall gardens, which are vertical planting beds that grow vegetables without pesticides, weeding, or much labor. (Small versions are now sold in cooking supply stores, from companies such as AeroGarden.) Bergmann

ecological economist Peter Victor

For home heating and cooling, the direct rebound appears to be in the range of 30 percent, that is, 30 percent of the efficiency gains are wiped out by higher demand, with a bigger response for cooling than heating.

Data on units of apparel from AAFA (2008)

The U.S. figure is so large because of the nation’s water-intensive agriculture, meat-heavy diet, suburban lawns, and high consumption of consumer electronics, apparel, and other commodities. It requires 2,000 liters of water to produce one T-shirt, 2,400 for a hamburger, and 8,000 for a pair of leather shoes.

the onus is on companies to make the transition to clean production.

Concretely, what this means is a moderation